2019 BET Awards: Nipsey Hussle Honored With Posthumous Humanitarian Award and Star-Studded Efficiency
Randy Shropshire/Getty Pictures for Warner Music
Nipsey Hussle could also be gone however he won’t ever, ever be forgotten.
Although the rapper, born Ermias Asghedom, was shot and killed in late March outdoors his South L.A. clothes retailer, the 33-year-old left an immeasurable imprint on the neighborhood. And on Sunday, throughout the 2019 BET Awards, the musician was honored for his work with the Humanitarian Award.
T.I. started the tribute with a speech praising his late pal. “There’ll by no means be one other Nipsey Hussle,” he started. “He was a revolutionary. His emphasis on the facility of fairness and possession of our artwork led the cost of independence and created a blueprint for different form of artists as we speak to comply with…He impressed folks the world over whereas by no means abandoning the neighborhood and tradition that raised him. it has been almost three months since we misplaced Nip and plenty of are nonetheless discovering how legendary he actually was.”
“He was an actual one, a real king merely involved with selling human welfare, uplifting these round him,” continued the artist. “As a prolific artist his lyrics and interviews are immensely highly effective however his actions spoke even louder. Nip proved that your life is your canvas and your physique of labor is your legacy.”
Nipsey’s household, together with his girlfriend Lauren London and mother Angelique Smith, accepted the award in his honor.
“I used to be so amazed at how a lot love was out on this planet for him that you just uplifted me,” his grandmother Margaret Boutte mentioned. “Thanks a lot world for loving him.”
In celebration of Nipsey’s life, performances from Marsha Ambrosius, DJ Khaled, YG and John Legend adopted.
Earlier than the reside present, Connie Orlando, Govt Vice-President and Head of Programming at BET, remembered the late artist and his affect.
“As a prolific artist and chief, Nipsey Hussle was zealous about driving change for the betterment of his neighborhood, empowering and using these in want and being an influential and extremely revered chief,” Orlando mentioned in a press release. “His passing was an amazing loss to the leisure trade and to the tradition. We’ll proceed to recollect his advocacy and be impressed by the groundwork he set forth and his dire dedication to social change.”
“We’re eternally grateful, humbled and honored to have skilled his presence and we’re invested in doing our half to make sure that the marathon will certainly proceed,” the assertion concluded. “It’s an immense honor for us to acknowledge him with this 12 months’s Humanitarian Award.”